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Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
Redskins safety Sean Taylor shot in Florida, in critical condition
By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer
November 26, 2007
AP - Nov 26, 10:42 am EST
PALMETTO BAY, Fla. (AP) -- Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor was shot at his home Monday and was in critical condition, and police are investigating a possible robbery.
Officers were sent to Taylor's home at about 1:45 a.m. after his girlfriend called 911 and said he was shot in his lower body, Lt. Nancy Perez said. He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital, she said, but did not disclose how many times he was shot.
Investigators were still interviewing the girlfriend and other relatives who were in the home to try to determine what happened, Perez said.
"It could have been a possible burglary, it could have been a possible robbery," Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."
Taylor's family asked that no information about his condition be released, hospital spokeswoman Lorraine Nelson said.
Taylor has a home in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay that he bought two years ago. The 24-year-old player is in his fourth season with the Redskins after playing at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003. He leads the team with five interceptions but has missed the last two games because of a knee injury.
Taylor has been in trouble numerous times since he was drafted as the No. 5 overall pick in 2004. He has been fined at least seven times during his professional career for late hits and other infractions, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006. He also was fined $25,000 for skipping a mandatory rookie symposium shortly after he was drafted.
Redskins coaches and players have defended Taylor, saying he was smart and misunderstood. Taylor has been slow let anyone into his inner circle. He has rarely spoken to reporters, saying he does not trust them. Teammates said he became more mature over the last year after he became a father for the first time.
In 2005, Taylor was accused of brandishing a gun at a man and repeatedly hitting him during a fight that broke out after Taylor and some friends went looking for the people who had allegedly stolen his all-terrain vehicles.
Taylor reached a deal with prosecutors last year after they agreed to drop felony charges against him. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in the assault case and was sentenced to 18 months probation. The pleas prompted another fine from the NFL but kept his football career intact.
He also was ordered to talk about the importance of education at 10 Miami schools and had to contribute $1,000 for scholarships to each of those schools.
The man Taylor allegedly hit, Ryan Hill, sued, seeking at least $15,000 in damages. Hill sustained bruises to his body, incurred medical expenses and lost wages because of the fight, the lawsuit said.
Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko and Joseph White contributed to this report.
- Gunslinger
- Rep: 88
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
I was shocked when I read this thread, damn. I hope all turns out well for Sean. This sort of thing is happening more and more in the world of sports. WTF?
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
He died. I can't believe it.
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
Fuck.
MIAMI (AP) -- Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has died, a day after he was shot at home. He was 24.
Family friend Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's father told him the news around 5:30 a.m.
"His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me," said Sharpstein, Taylor's former lawyer. "It's a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans."
He said he did not know exactly when Taylor died at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he was airlifted after the shooting early Monday.
Doctors had been encouraged late Monday night when Taylor squeezed a nurse's hand. But Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital and that he wasn't sure how he had squeezed the nurse's hand.
"Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something," Sharpstein said.
The 24-year-old was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.
Miami-Dade Police were investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called 911. Taylor was airlifted to the hospital.
Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house at the time, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.
"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."
Taylor was shot at the pale yellow house he bought two years ago in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. Eight days before the attack someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor's home, according to police.
"They're really sifting through that incident and today's incident," Miami-Dade Police Detective Mario Rachid said, "to see if there's any correlation."
Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. His father, Pedro Taylor, is the police chief of Florida City, Fla.
A private man with a small inner circle, Taylor rarely granted interviews. But, behind the scenes, Taylor was described as personable and smart -- an emerging locker room leader.
Especially since the birth of his daughter Jackie.
"From the first day I met him, from then to now, it's just like night and day," Redskins receiver James Thrash said. "He's really got his head on his shoulders and has been doing really well as far as just being a man. It's been awesome to see that growth."
An All-American at the University of Miami, Taylor was drafted by the Redskins with the fifth overall selection in 2004. Coach Joe Gibbs called it "one of the most researched things" he's ever done, but the problems soon began. Taylor fired his agent, then skipped part of the NFL's mandatory rookie symposium, drawing a $25,000 fine. Driving home late from a party during the season, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed in court, but by then it had become a months-long distraction for the team.
Taylor also was fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006.
Meanwhile, Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor's home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months' probation.
Taylor said the end of the assault case was like "a gray cloud" being lifted. It was also around the time that Jackie was born, and teammates noticed a change.
"It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight," said Redskins teammate and close friend Clinton Portis, who also played with Taylor at the University of Miami. "But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child."
On the field, Taylor's play was often erratic. Assistant coach Gregg Williams frequently called Taylor the best athlete he's ever coached, but nearly every big play was mitigated by a blown assignment. Taylor led the NFL in missed tackles in 2006 yet made the Pro Bowl because of his reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.
This year, however, Taylor was allowed to play a true free safety position, using his speed and power to chase down passes and crush would-be receivers. His five interceptions tie for the league lead in the NFC, even though he missed the last two games because of a sprained knee.
"I just take this job very seriously," Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. "It's almost like, you play a kid's game for a king's ransom. And if you don't take it serious enough, eventually one day you're going to say, 'Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.'
"So I just say, 'I'm healthy right now, I'm going into my fourth year, and why not do the best that I can?' And that's whatever it is, whether it's eating right or training myself right, whether it's studying harder, whatever I can do to better myself."
His hard work was well-noted.
"He loved football. He felt like that's what he was made to do," Gibbs said. "And I think what I've noticed over the last year and a half ... is he matured. I think his baby had a huge impact on him. There was a real growing up in his life."
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NFL needs to do something about the direction the players seem to be going in. I am not blaming Taylor for his own death, as it seems to be some sort of robbery gone wrong, but there is clearly a pattern being established among football players across the league.
RIP
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
I heard this today on the way to work. Very sad news. RIP.
I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but it seems like a lot of people that I either admired or at the very least respected their talents are dropping like flies. If this is what getting older is all about, I'll pass.
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
Yeah, I was talking to someone yesterday about this very same thing, although we were discussing Dubrow and not Taylor. How when someone from the 80's that you basically grew up with dies, its like a small part of you dies with them. It shows your own mortality, and how the cycle of life just continues on regardless of who you are.
Getting old sucks, but I guess the alternative is even worse.
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
Yeah I can't beleive it. When I first heard it I thought it may have been a domestic thing, and that he was wounded, but ok. Didn't expect him to die. It seems the bullet hit his femur artery & he must have bled a ton.
RIP Sean.
- NY Giants82
- Rep: 26
Re: Redskins safety Sean Taylor dead at 24 (Updated)
Absoutly terrible. Apparently he was giving an honest effort at turning his life around. I feel so bad for his girlfriend, and most importantly his 18 month old. As a new parent, that hits home.
R.I.P. #21
